Vanquisher of Cantor, Dave Brat, Doesn’t Care Too Much For Education

Posted by | June 11, 2014 13:11 | Filed under: Contributors Opinion Politics Sandi Behrns Top Stories


With the political world still reeling from the surprising ouster of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, it’s time to take a closer look at last night’s winner and new GOP nominee for VA-07, Dave Brat. Fortunately, the folks at Mother Jones have done a bang-up job of combing through Brat’s political statements so we can quickly gleam what we’re dealing with. To say he’s a bit extreme would be an understatement.

Brat has called for slashing Social Security, Medicare, and education spending and says “rich” nations don’t have to fear climate change.

Despite the fact that Brat holds a PhD and is employed as a college professor (at the same institution — Randolph Macon College — as his Democratic rival Jack Trammell), he doesn’t seem to care much for education. (Or ethical government, or logic…)

Sure, we could spend some time making ourselves aghast at his contention that we should slash retiree payouts of Medicare and Social Security by two-thirds, or his unconscionable assertion that we need not worry about climate change because we’re a rich country. (And presumably, the rest of the world can just eff off.) But let’s instead amuse ourselves for a bit with Dr. Brat’s uncanny resemblance to George W. Bush. A few highlights:

My hero Socrates trained in Plato on a rock. How much did that cost?

For the first 13 years of your kid’s life, we teach them no religion, no philosophy, and no ethics…Who is our great moral teachers these days? 

Every generation has always had great theologians or philosophers by the century that you can name.

Who do we got right now?

We got a major problem.

“Common-” anything I’m against. United Nations. Common everything. If you say common, by definition you’re saying it’s top-down. I’m going to force this on you. That’s what dictators do.

Obama is forcing un-diversity onto everybody.

This guy is a hoot!

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Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Sandi Behrns

Sandi Behrns is a noted policy nerd, new media & web developer, and consultant to progressive organizations and campaigns. She is a senior contributor to Liberaland, and the Executive Editor of Progressive Congress News.

22 responses to Vanquisher of Cantor, Dave Brat, Doesn’t Care Too Much For Education

  1. William June 11th, 2014 at 13:26

    Education. It’s all a matter of perspective.

  2. William June 11th, 2014 at 13:26

    Education. It’s all a matter of perspective.

  3. Dwendt44 June 11th, 2014 at 13:32

    He’s all for ‘christian capitalism’ too. Ignore that oxymoron. Jesus practiced communalism, the precursor of socialism/communism.

    • Weeble1150 June 11th, 2014 at 20:15

      Prove it! — the “Jesus practiced….” part.

      • Dwendt44 June 12th, 2014 at 15:27

        Try reading the bible. ALL of it, not just the ‘suggested readings’ list handed out by preachers.
        You might recall the ‘loaves and fishes’ fable from Sunday school.
        The idea here, ‘from each according to his talents, to each according to his needs’, well that’s the basis for communism.
        Karl Marx used the bible as one of the source books while he was formulating ‘Marxism’.

        • Weeble1150 June 12th, 2014 at 16:00

          I *have* read it. ALL of it. But that’s beside the point. What you are assuming is that Jesus and his disciples seized the boys assets (the loaves and fishes) without payment to the boy, and distributed them to the assembled throng. The Bible is silent on this point, so we cannot assume that the boy was not paid for his assets. Evidently the disciples *did* have some money on them because they asked Jesus “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
          So if the disciples *did* have money to buy bread, it seem unlikely to me that they would *not* pay the boy for his loaves and fishes.

          • Gilberto Rosas June 12th, 2014 at 19:39

            You’re making quite a presumption. It’s not “each according to what he can afford”.

          • Dwendt44 June 13th, 2014 at 11:58

            What boy? The disciples and Jesus shared what they had with each other and with the crowd. That’s communalism plain and simple. Please stop making excuses for the crazy ideas Republicans come up with and then coat with a (very) thin veneer of bible or christianity.

            • Weeble1150 June 13th, 2014 at 22:09

              “What boy?” you say? In the famous words of Dwendt44 “Try reading the Bible!” Start with John 6:9. And as far as “Please stop making excuses for the crazy ideas Republicans come up with….” please review my posts and show me where I’ve done this.

  4. Dwendt44 June 11th, 2014 at 13:32

    He’s all for ‘christian capitalism’ too. Ignore that oxymoron. Jesus practiced communalism, the precursor of socialism/communism.

    • Weeble1150 June 11th, 2014 at 20:15

      Prove it! — the “Jesus practiced….” part.

      • Dwendt44 June 12th, 2014 at 15:27

        Try reading the bible. ALL of it, not just the ‘suggested readings’ list handed out by preachers.
        You might recall the ‘loaves and fishes’ fable from Sunday school.
        The idea here, ‘from each according to his talents, to each according to his needs’, well that’s the basis for communism.
        Karl Marx used the bible as one of the source books while he was formulating ‘Marxism’.

        • Weeble1150 June 12th, 2014 at 16:00

          I *have* read it. ALL of it. But that’s beside the point. What you are assuming is that Jesus and his disciples seized the boys assets (the loaves and fishes) without payment to the boy, and distributed them to the assembled throng. The Bible is silent on this point, so we cannot assume that the boy was not paid for his assets. Evidently the disciples *did* have some money on them because they asked Jesus “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
          So if the disciples *did* have money to buy bread, it seem unlikely to me that they would *not* pay the boy for his loaves and fishes.

          • Gilberto Rosas June 12th, 2014 at 19:39

            You’re making quite a presumption. It’s not “each according to what he can afford”.

          • Dwendt44 June 13th, 2014 at 11:58

            What boy? The disciples and Jesus shared what they had with each other and with the crowd. That’s communalism plain and simple. Please stop making excuses for the crazy ideas Republicans come up with and then coat with a (very) thin veneer of bible or christianity.

            • Weeble1150 June 13th, 2014 at 22:09

              “What boy?” you say? In the famous words of Dwendt44 “Try reading the Bible!” Start with John 6:9. And as far as “Please stop making excuses for the crazy ideas Republicans come up with….” please review my posts and show me where I’ve done this.

  5. Shades June 11th, 2014 at 15:03

    I thought, since he was a college professor, he could at least put a sentence together. Guess I was wrong.

  6. Shades June 11th, 2014 at 15:03

    I thought, since he was a college professor, he could at least put a sentence together. Guess I was wrong.

  7. granpa.usthai June 11th, 2014 at 15:11

    well, the WHITE RACIST REPUBLIKLAN TEABAGGERS do have a more better streamlined education.
    EG:
    math – 1 + 0 = whatever you can get
    alphabet = n
    vowels = o (see the resemblance to our failed public education?).
    color -WHITE

  8. granpa.usthai June 11th, 2014 at 15:11

    well, the WHITE RACIST REPUBLIKLAN TEABAGGERS do have a more better streamlined education.
    EG:
    math – 1 + 0 = whatever you can get
    alphabet = n
    vowels = o (see the resemblance to our failed public education?).
    color -WHITE

  9. Tony June 11th, 2014 at 15:43

    If true, he must loath Jefferson and Lincoln.

  10. Tony June 11th, 2014 at 15:43

    If true, he must loath Jefferson and Lincoln.

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